Student 1
Week One- Mater Hospital Dublin
For my first week of Work Experience I went to the Mater Hospital in Dublin. As I have been interested in a career in medicine for a while this course was very beneficial for me. We mostly spent the week listening to talks from different workers in the hospital. For example, we got to hear the realities of studying medicine and working after college from a Junior Doctor in the hospital. The highlights for me were visiting the blood labs and the mortuary. In the blood labs we saw bags of different blood cells and learned how blood is analysed. The hospital had tubes that could send vials of blood to different parts of the hospital instantly which I found amazing. In the mortuary we saw a brain which had been preserved in a bucket, I was surprised that nobody fainted. Overall, the week was very enjoyable and gave me a much better insight into working in a hospital.
For my first week of Work Experience I went to the Mater Hospital in Dublin. As I have been interested in a career in medicine for a while this course was very beneficial for me. We mostly spent the week listening to talks from different workers in the hospital. For example, we got to hear the realities of studying medicine and working after college from a Junior Doctor in the hospital. The highlights for me were visiting the blood labs and the mortuary. In the blood labs we saw bags of different blood cells and learned how blood is analysed. The hospital had tubes that could send vials of blood to different parts of the hospital instantly which I found amazing. In the mortuary we saw a brain which had been preserved in a bucket, I was surprised that nobody fainted. Overall, the week was very enjoyable and gave me a much better insight into working in a hospital.
Week Two- Paz de Ziganda Ikastola, Pamplona, Spain
My second week of work experience was at an Ikastola in Spain. An Ikastola is a primary/secondary school where classes are taught through Basque, a minority language in Northern Spain, like a Gaelscoil in Ireland. The students learned English as a third language there and I helped out in their classes for the week. At the start of the week, I was in the playschool and primary school part of the school. I read stories like The Three Little Pigs to those children and made them do actions and sound effects with certain words to keep them engaged and help them to understand. I also helped older primary school children who were practising dramas they would be performing for their parents in English. I read scripts with them so they could hear how a native speaker pronounced different words. With one class who were studying the ocean, I told them the story of The Giant's Causeway. They loved hearing about Irish culture and laughed at my accent every chance they got.
Later in the week, I spent time in the secondary school section of the school. I spoke to them about differences between Ireland and Spain and answered questions they had about Ireland. They were especially shocked by the different foods we ate in Ireland. Nobody there had ever eaten or even heard of turnips or parsnips. They were also surprised by how different our school was to theirs. I told them that we couldn't wear nail varnish, makeup, or big earrings and they all looked horrified. They were also surprised when I showed them pictures of our school uniform and told the that most schools in Ireland had uniforms. Based on the information I told them, they assumed my school was a private school, as it sounded similar to private schools in Spain. None of them could believe that my school was not private and that most non-private schools in Ireland were similar to my school. We also talked about books, celebrities, and TV shows. Their standard of English was amazing so it was easy to have conversations with them. I even got to help out in a 6th Year English class who were preparing for the Spanish Leaving Cert. I read the ending of the novel they were studying aloud for them so they could hear my accent. Then I got to hear about the different college courses they wanted to do and what the Spanish Leaving Cert was like.
That week was an amazing and unique opportunity to see what teaching English as a foreign language is like. It really was one of the highlights of Transition Year for me and helped me to decide my career path.
My second week of work experience was at an Ikastola in Spain. An Ikastola is a primary/secondary school where classes are taught through Basque, a minority language in Northern Spain, like a Gaelscoil in Ireland. The students learned English as a third language there and I helped out in their classes for the week. At the start of the week, I was in the playschool and primary school part of the school. I read stories like The Three Little Pigs to those children and made them do actions and sound effects with certain words to keep them engaged and help them to understand. I also helped older primary school children who were practising dramas they would be performing for their parents in English. I read scripts with them so they could hear how a native speaker pronounced different words. With one class who were studying the ocean, I told them the story of The Giant's Causeway. They loved hearing about Irish culture and laughed at my accent every chance they got.
Later in the week, I spent time in the secondary school section of the school. I spoke to them about differences between Ireland and Spain and answered questions they had about Ireland. They were especially shocked by the different foods we ate in Ireland. Nobody there had ever eaten or even heard of turnips or parsnips. They were also surprised by how different our school was to theirs. I told them that we couldn't wear nail varnish, makeup, or big earrings and they all looked horrified. They were also surprised when I showed them pictures of our school uniform and told the that most schools in Ireland had uniforms. Based on the information I told them, they assumed my school was a private school, as it sounded similar to private schools in Spain. None of them could believe that my school was not private and that most non-private schools in Ireland were similar to my school. We also talked about books, celebrities, and TV shows. Their standard of English was amazing so it was easy to have conversations with them. I even got to help out in a 6th Year English class who were preparing for the Spanish Leaving Cert. I read the ending of the novel they were studying aloud for them so they could hear my accent. Then I got to hear about the different college courses they wanted to do and what the Spanish Leaving Cert was like.
That week was an amazing and unique opportunity to see what teaching English as a foreign language is like. It really was one of the highlights of Transition Year for me and helped me to decide my career path.
Week Three- Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Cork.
I spent my final week of work experience at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Cork. Pfizer manufacture different medicines like Paracetamol, and at the plant I visited, they made the raw materials for the medication rather than the actual medication. We had guided tours of the labs, plant, and warehouses from workers in the different areas. The highlights of the course for me were working in the labs and engineering talks we heard. In the labs, we got to analyse different substances and use advanced technology to create graphs to help us identify the substances. This was a fun way of seeing what working as a scientist in a lab is like. During the engineering talks, we did different challenges which made the talks really engaging. We had to build a tower and a bridge out of straws and balance different things on them. This week was very interesting as I learned a lot about different careers in STEM subjects. I got to see where different STEM degrees could lead which I found beneficial.
I spent my final week of work experience at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Cork. Pfizer manufacture different medicines like Paracetamol, and at the plant I visited, they made the raw materials for the medication rather than the actual medication. We had guided tours of the labs, plant, and warehouses from workers in the different areas. The highlights of the course for me were working in the labs and engineering talks we heard. In the labs, we got to analyse different substances and use advanced technology to create graphs to help us identify the substances. This was a fun way of seeing what working as a scientist in a lab is like. During the engineering talks, we did different challenges which made the talks really engaging. We had to build a tower and a bridge out of straws and balance different things on them. This week was very interesting as I learned a lot about different careers in STEM subjects. I got to see where different STEM degrees could lead which I found beneficial.
Student 2
Week One- Speech and Language Clinic
My mum works as a
receptionist in a speech and language clinic, so I decided to go there for my
first week of work experience. I was also interested to discover more about the
occupation of a speech and language therapist. On the first day, I was nervous
as I arrived at the clinic, because I was unsure of what it would be like.
However, the three therapists were very welcoming and I soon settled in. I was
given the opportunity to sit in on several therapy sessions everyday. I was
very lucky to get to do this and most of the parents were open to me being
there. I liked interacting with the different kids and watching how the
therapists worked with them. Each child had different issues and the therapists
adapted the sessions to suits them, changing every week. I realised that speech
and language therapy covers a wide variety of topics, not just stammering and
pronunciation. I really enjoyed my week and got the chance to work with lots of
different children. I would now consider a career with children or/and with
speech therapy in the future.
Week Two- Primary School
For my second week of work
experience, I decided to return to my primary school. I didn’t really have an
interest in teaching, but I wanted to experience work with children and see how
it suited me. On the Monday, I attended the I Wish conference in the RDS instead
of work experience. This was interesting and gave a good insight into the
various opportunities the STEM subjects can give to girls. On the Tuesday I
began work in the school. I split each day between a junior infant and senior
infant class. This was slightly overwhelming at first, as there were so many
small children, but it became easier as the week progressed. I helped out with
art, writing and reading. It was fun and interactive. On the Wednesday I talked
to the 6th class about secondary school and gave them some tips. I also went to
the 5th class and helped them with the foreign languages they were learning.
Overall I enjoyed the week, but I’m not sure if I’d like to work with kids all
the time.
Week Three- Vintage
Clothing Shop
My third week was spent in a vintage clothing shop in Temple Bar
in town. This was quite different to my previous weeks as it did not involve
children and I was doing completely different tasks. I got great experience
working in a shop and I also learned a lot about vintage clothes. I have an
interest in fashion and sewing so I really enjoyed this week. My jobs involved
helping customers, steaming, sorting and colour coding clothes and dressing up
mannequins for display. I loved seeing the different eras of fashion while I was
organising the clothes by style and colour. I would possibly like to work with
fashion in the future, as I am interested in an artistic or creative career.
However, I don’t think my strengths would lie in a career like managing a shop.
Student 3
Week One
I
decided to work in a St. Vincent de Paul charity shop for two weeks.
I found my experience great and it has totally changed my
expectations towards the local charity shop. I
started at 10:00 and I would sign my name in the sign in booklet,
then I would put my jacket and bag in a locker. The jobs varied from
day-to-day, sometimes it would be a busy day full of work or a day
that their would be repetitive work. The work that I had to do
included recycling products that were over ten days old which
included, books, clothing, house decorations, toys, CDs & DVDs. I
also had to click size cubes on clothing hangers for each of the
clothes, write the date and price of the products and bring in
donations to the back to discard what we would not want to put onto
the shelves. Colour coordinating was one of my favourite things to do
along with attending customers.
We
would have a 15 minute break by 11:00. During that time I would have
something to eat, fill in my Work Experience Journal, talk with my
colleagues and rest. We get back to work whenever we are ready and
continue with our work until 12:30. Then we would have a break and we
got to go out and buy our lunch, walk around the town and get some
fresh air. Thirty minutes later we get back to work until 14:00 which
is when I finish. Skills I developed: Sensitivity to others,
Initiative, Motivation, Communication, Team Membership and
Independence.
Week Two
I
worked in Vila, a retail clothes shop. My experience there was good.
I learned a lot of "retail skills" such as folding trousers
and jumpers in a particular way, unpacking new in clothing,
steaming new in clothing, polishing the shelves and clothing rails,
putting price stickers on sales clothing and tucking tags into the
clothing. My day began at 9:30 I would put my bag and jacket down in
the staff room, start polishing and continue from the previous day.
My favourite memory from that experience was when I got complimented
by a local customer of how professional I seemed to be. That made me
be confident throughout the whole week. At 12:30 I had lunch and got
back to lunch at 13:00, continued working and finished at 15:00.
Student 4
Week One
Taking
advice from teachers and coordinators I decided to spend one of my
weeks in a career sector that interested me and I had considered for
my own future. So off I headed to Hayes McGrath Solicitors on Baggot
street in Dublin city. Being completely honest, I was terrified. I
got an extremely early train, I got lost on my way from the train
station and I still arrived far too early at the office. All was well
in the end though. I learned a lot in my first day let alone the
entire week. Everything was smooth sailing, except for a silly
mistake that landed me on a train to Newbridge instead of Rush. I got
to read case file about things I had heard in the news for example
the stabbings at the Swedish House Mafia concert in 2012. It was all
so overwhelming to see the real life work behind the scenes of the
most famous criminal cases in Ireland. I was so impressed with my
week there, hopefully I will be able to return when I’m in college
for a summer job.
Week two
My
second week was probably the best out of the three. I spent it in
Shannon, Co. Clare in The Irish Aviation Authority. I was in the
air traffic control section and I was able to witness, in my opinion,
the most crucial element of flying. The air traffic controllers speak
to pilots, airports, runway staff, and other air traffic controllers
all over the world. They control every single plane that flies over
Irelands airspace, which is more that just the country itself. I
absolutely loved every second of it. I was also lucky enough to get
to visit the air traffic control tower, which is at the runway of Shannon Airport and see a few planes taking off. It really opened my
eyes to another possible career.
For
my third week I returned to one of my old primary schools, St.
Brendans NS in Loughshinny. It was so nice to return to a place
filled with such wonderful memories and to be remembered by all of
the staff. I had a timetable for everyday so I was always busy and
never wandering around. I spent time in every class and was lucky
enough to go on some outings with a few classes. I went to the beach
with 6th class to help them do a litter collection, and I went on a
hike with 4th class along the cliffs from Rush to Loughshinny. I also
happened to be there when a few 6th class kids were preparing for a
debating competition so I helped them practice
Student 5
On
the week commencing the 9th of April, I spent Monday to Friday in
Rotunda Hospital shadowing midwives and nurses. For this course I had
to apply really early to secure a place, February 2017. Every day I
started at 9:30am except
on Friday, when I started at 10:30am. On
Monday and Tuesday, I spent the days on the General Postnatal Ward,
were mums and their new born babies stay until they go home. On
Wednesday and Thursday, I was on the Lillie Suite, which
is were the private rooms are for mums and their new born babies.
Then on Friday, I spent the day in the Paediatric Outpatient Unit,
where babies would come back for their 6-8 week checkups, if they had
any problems with jaundice or weight loss etc. From Monday to
Thursday, the jobs were very similar, although I did prefer being on
the Public Ward rather than the Private Suites. I went around with
the healthcare assistants to ask the mums how they were getting on
and how their pain was etc, I got to watch all the 2-3 day old babies
get their hearing tests on the day they were going home, I helped out
with baby baths, brought babies down to another part of the hospital
to get their antibiotics, helped out with changing linens and observe
tests for the babies' breathing and heart.
All the staff in the
hospital were extremely welcoming and took me under their wings
throughout the week. They answered any questions I had and would also
explain whatever they were doing during the day. I learnt a huge
amount about different postnatal illnesses and medication. The
parents were also really lovely and I was glad they didn't mind me
being there; many of them invited me in to chat and watch their
checkups being completed. On Friday, on the Paediatric Outpatient
Unit, I shadowed 2 midwives who did the checkups for the 1-2 month
old babies. These included weighing the babies, taking blood tests,
using a bilimeter to measure the babies jaundice levels and asking
about the general wellbeing of the babies.
Overall,
I thoroughly enjoyed my week in Rotunda Hospital and gained a whole
lot of valuable information and experience that I will take with me
for the future. After this placement, I would definitely consider
working as a midwife, as I've found I'm really passionate about this
area of work and found myself adjusting to the environment of the
hospital and the wards really easily.
